


A Little Sweeter

by Jain



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Background Het, Character of Color, Community: femslash exchange, F/F, First Time, POV Third Person, Past Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 01:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1038472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/pseuds/Jain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasha has even more to offer than her celebrated fighting skills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Sweeter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vintar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vintar/gifts).



One of the newly arrived Russian Team was standing on Mako's doorstep. Mako closed the peephole, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Lt. Kaidanovskaya," she said politely, trying to keep her face blank of both her confusion and her even more inappropriate thrill of excitement. The woman had been a legendary Jaeger pilot for six years; Mako's acting like a fawning groupie would only be an annoyance to her.

"Ms. Mori," Kaidanovskaya said in return. "I was hoping to talk to you. In private."

"Of course," Mako said, even more puzzled, and stepped aside to let the lieutenant into her room, closing the door behind them. The work area was a mess--tools and parts spread across her table and spilling onto the chair--and Kaidanovskaya waited patiently while Mako cleared a little space for her and gestured for her to sit. "Would you like some tea?" she asked once that was done.

"I would, thank you," Kaidanovskaya said.

There followed a deep silence as Mako boiled water in her little electric kettle and prepared a pot of tea. Mako considered and rejected several conversation starters as she worked. Whatever Kaidanovskaya's purpose was in coming to see Mako, she seemed prepared to wait. At least she didn't look bored; the few times Mako glanced over at her, Kaidanovskaya was examining Mako's work table with interest, though she was careful not to touch anything.

At last the tea was ready and Mako passed a steaming cup to Kaidanovskaya before settling on her bed--the only remaining seating option other than the floor--with her own cup.

Kaidanovskaya took it with a nod of thanks and breathed in the scent of the tea before taking a sip. That social nicety apparently taken care of, she fixed Mako with a focused, direct stare. "I don't yet know how this Shatterdome works," she said, "but I imagine there are certain items you cannot get."

Mako tilted her head questioningly, uncertain if Kaidanovskaya was talking about the tea--which was, in fact, a very inferior blend that was only ten percent actual tea leaves--or something else.

Kaidanovskaya shook her head impatiently at Mako's incomprehension. "Weaponry, raw materials... Either to make improvements or to repair damaged Jaegers."

"Oh!" Kaidanovskaya wasn't the first person to express her concerns about the Hong Kong Shatterdome's limited resources, and in her position, Mako might also be worried. The explanation Mako gave Kaidanovskaya was half-rehearsed, Mako had recited it so often: "It's true that we've been defunded, but Marshall Pentecost made sure to put aside a reserve when governments began to express their displeasure with the program. We also have a number of contacts outside official government channels who will deal with us. We haven't had any shortages yet."

"Good," Kaidanovskaya said, looking grimly pleased by that information. She hesitated a long moment, and then said, "You will add me to your list of contacts."

"Of course," Mako said automatically; at this point, there weren't many offers of assistance that they would turn down.

There was another brief moment of silence, and then Kaidanovskaya said, "I have friends in the black market." She grimaced. "Not such good friends that they won't charge you a lot of money for the items they sell, but I can promise you the best deals possible. And the Russian black market is a _very good_ black market."

"I'm sure it is. Thank you, Lt. Kaidanovskaya," Mako said, not even trying to hide how relieved and grateful she felt for being given one more small thread on which to string their hopes for the future.

Kaidanovskaya looked a little relieved as well, underneath her general air of stoicism, and Mako realized abruptly that Kaidanovskaya hadn't been sure if her offer would be well received.

"Marshall Pentecost will appreciate it, too," she said.

The expression on Kaidanovskaya's face made it clear that she understood exactly what Mako wasn't saying aloud, but she shrugged nevertheless. "You are the person who rebuilt Gipsy Danger, correct?"

"Yes...," Mako said, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"Then you're the person who most needed to know about my friends' resources," she said, so matter-of-factly that it took Mako half a minute to realize that Kaidanovskaya was paying her a compliment.

* * *

If Mako had needed it, she'd have gotten proof that Kaidanovskaya's black market friends could be a serious benefit when Kaidanovskaya invited her back to her room for a cup of tea a week later.

The tea was no better than Mako's, but the small rectangular cake she brought out to accompany it was _gold_.

"How much did that cost you?" Mako breathed.

"This? Nothing," Kaidanovskaya said dismissively. "One of my friends wants to make sure I don't forget him. He hopes to make many times more than the cost of this cake by selling missiles to the Shatterdome."

As she spoke, she cut the cake in half and then half again; each of the two quarters she put onto a plate, then wrapped the rest up and returned it to its drawer. She handed one of the plates to Mako, who stared at it and couldn't quite bring herself to take a bite. She hadn't eaten cake in probably _five years_. And Kaidanovskaya had known her all of six days and was giving her a gift like _this?_

"You like cake, yes?"

"Yes, but--"

"Then eat. It's cake; it will not keep." Kaidanovskaya sighed when Mako still hesitated. "Half of the cake is mine and half is Sasha's. I could eat my entire portion by myself and feel sick, would that be better? Or I could eat one bite today and one bite tomorrow and one bite the day after that, until the cake is dry and unpleasant and I forget why I ever liked it. _Or_ I could share my cake with a new friend, and she and I will both be very happy. Which would you choose?"

"Good point," Mako conceded and took a small forkful. The cake contained bits of walnuts and had both a layer of apricot glaze and a thick spread of frosting; Mako couldn't remember ever tasting something so good.

Astonishingly, a non-cake related thought managed to cross her mind before she'd taken more than a few bites. "Didn't I hear your husband call _you_ Sasha the other day?"

Kaidanovskaya laughed. "He is Aleksandr and I am Aleksandra, so we are both Sasha. When we're talking to each other, there is nobody to be confused. But when other people want to talk to us, then it can get a little confusing, so sometimes we use other names. But he is always Sasha to me." She looked at Mako thoughtfully, then said, "And I can be Sasha to you, if you like."

"I'd like that," Mako said politely, as though it weren't a quarter of her dreams come true to be friends with a brilliant Jaeger pilot: not to be the Shatterdome's mascot and pet, or even a respected engineer and occasional tactical advisor, but actual _friends_.

That the pilot in question should be Sasha Kaidanovskaya, whom Mako had idolized since she was a teenager... Mako clamped down on the half-nervous flutter of excitement under her breastbone, hoped that she wasn't blushing visibly, and added, "And you should call me Mako."

* * *

"Sit with us," Kaidanovsky invited. Mako glanced at the table she'd been heading towards, but Tan, McCarthy, and Reyes were laughing uproariously over some joke; she could catch them later to talk about the half-second delay Crimson Typhoon had developed in its plasma cannon discharges. And Sasha was smiling at her from the table the Kaidanovskys had commandeered.

"All right," she said and followed him. He took the seat next to Sasha, which left the seat across from them for Mako.

"Young," one of the other men at the table said in Russian, raising his eyebrows at Sasha in an oddly significant way.

" _English,_ " Sasha said, at the same time that Mako said:

"Twenty-one," in a faintly challenging tone. She might not be as seasoned as some in the Jaeger Program, but she was still an adult and, additionally, had more experience than most people her age.

Sasha and Kaidanovsky both grinned, while the other man shrugged carelessly and said, "No offense intended," in English.

"None taken," Mako answered.

"Striker Eureka," Sasha said abruptly, and every eye in the table turned towards her. She gave Mako an expectant look. "We know something about her capabilities, but I'm sure you know more."

Mako was 99 percent certain that this change in topic was entirely for her benefit, to let her demonstrate her expertise to the Kaidanovskys' team. She smiled at Sasha. "I've done some research into both Striker Eureka and the Hansens' fighting style. What do you want to know?"

* * *

Mako was too angry to train properly; each kick and block she delivered to her shadow opponent was sloppy and ill-timed. Unfortunately, she was also too angry to do anything _else_ properly, and at least training might tire her out enough to let her sleep.

"I can go if you want," Sasha called from the doorway, and Mako turned, startled, to face her. "But if it would help, I can stay."

Mako considered the offer for half a minute as she caught her breath. Sasha didn't need to suffer for Mako's bad mood; it wasn't her fault that Chuck Hansen was an arrogant, obnoxious-- Mako forced herself to stop thinking about him before she got even angrier.

On the other hand, Sasha could easily have left without Mako's noticing her if that's what she'd wanted. And despite her lingering frustration and resentment, Mako could feel the burn of anger in her stomach lessening, her muscles becoming less tight, just from having Sasha there.

"I'd like it if you stayed," she said. "But only if we don't talk for a while."

"What's there to talk about? Better to save our breath for fighting," Sasha said, one corner of her mouth twitching up in a smile. She took off her shoes and joined Mako on the mat, and Mako shoved the lingering remnants of her bad temper aside to concentrate on Sasha as she deserved.

* * *

"Do you drink?"

Mako blinked at the question; alcohol wasn't strictly forbidden on base, but it was definitely discouraged. Still, she knew Sasha well enough--knew both of the Kaidanovskys well enough, really--that it was completely unimaginable to her that Cherno Alpha's pilots wouldn't be ready to fight at a moment's notice. "A little," she said.

"I have some peach brandy. It's sweet; you'll like it."

"Another present from one of your friends?" Mako asked.

Sasha snorted unexpectedly. "Delivered along with the thermonuclear device Marshall Pentecost purchased, yes. If Alyosha knew what the bomb was intended for, he might not have been so free with his gifts. One way or another, the Shatterdome's not likely to buy anything from him again. So, brandy?"

"I've never tried brandy before," Mako said. "But okay."

Unlike her previous visits to the Kaidanovskys' room, this time there was a second bed in one corner. Mako carefully didn't look at it, but Sasha noticed her not looking and laughed. "I kick in my sleep, and Sasha steals the covers," she volunteered. "It's better for everyone if we sleep apart."

"Oh," Mako said, not sure if she was more relieved or--selfishly, horribly--disappointed to hear it.

Sasha gave her a penetrating glance, then shrugged and said, "Also, he doesn't mind if I take other people into my bed, but he gets a little upset if I take other people into _his_ bed."

"Oh," Mako said again. She felt almost queasy with hope and anticipation; was Sasha speaking generally or to Mako in particular? When Sasha didn't say anything else, she added, "And which one's your bed?"

Sasha's smile brightened even further, and she caught Mako's hand in hers and tugged her towards the left-hand bed. "Come see for yourself."

Mako's heart leaped, but she forced herself to pull back slightly. "You're sure?" she asked. Her cheeks burned hotly. "This isn't just because you know I--"

The expression on Sasha's face was almost gentle as she turned to look at Mako, as she brushed Mako's hair away from her face with one hand and leaned in for a soft kiss. "I told Sasha last night how sweet you were." She laughed suddenly. "He said I should ask you to sleep with me at once, because that was the twentieth time I'd complimented you to him, and he was starting to feel a little jealous."

Mako raised her eyebrows. "And sleeping with me _doesn't_ make him feel jealous?"

"This way I can compliment you directly rather than to Sasha," Sasha explained. "So I can tell you that you're very beautiful and clever and that I'm very, very sure. You and I share so nicely. It would be a pleasure to share this, too."

Which, as far as arguments went, was pretty final as far as Mako was concerned.


End file.
